Stale Honey - ant Pokkle
by spicedon
Summary: Months after the Chimera Ant war, a revived Pokkle lived inside Neo-Green Life before becoming sick of living the same routine over and over, recovering some memories in the process after living inside the nature reserve. However, once he leaves the place unauthorized, he spends his time searching for a faceless someone and making new friends while re-taking the Hunter Exam.


Swift and strong winds gripped the roots of trees while shattering silence under a clear night sky. Moonlight lit the land below and covered the forest's surface while animals chittered inside the shadows. Uproars weren't heard, villages weren't raided; it's a sign that the raging species war was over and all the ants left were given validated freedom.

This gave Pokkle one choice: to finally emerge from his isolated cave and live however he pleased without causing any permanent danger, besides being a Chimera Ant himself thriving upon the forest critters that touched a paw inside his temporary home. Nothing but utter silence except for his breathing.

He cleaned his dirtied lips with an arm and stood up, heading outside and leaving behind corpses. Nobody would ever suspect a chimera ant ate and lived inside this cave after his disappearance, just another wild predator within the animal kingdom who knew their place inside the food chain.

Sharp threads of grass touched his feet, toes grabbing the damp dirt below him as he headed deep into the wilderness. He held onto a certain mission, leftovers from his past life as a reckless and over-confident human. There was something called the Hunter Exam he took back then, but what exactly _was_ a Hunter?

Pokkle hunted, didn't he? He's searching for a certain somebody, his heartbeat gradually decreased. Question is, who was this somebody? His gut whispered, "Hey, you know this person, right? You should know them! It should click into your mind right about now!" Except, nothing snapped his memory bank open and Pokkle remained alone in this vague, dangerous world without any hints or clues to lead him to his conclusion.

The moon illuminated above him, stars shining non-stop. The chimera ant paused, sighing while preparing himself for a flight. Walking's overly exhausting and he'll never find civilization at this rate, which will take him days to locate a decent town that could help him discover his past identity.

His transparent, rounded wings opened wide, with a solid jump he soared high into the air and flapped tirelessly. Neo-Green Life was a complicated nation and nonetheless, it was also a mess for several years, technology was prohibited with villagers living off their own crops without any solid education and information about the life around them. Unfortunately enough, their leader was a selfish brat who hogged everything to themselves inside their humble palace; wealthy and ignorant. Thankfully, he's dead and nobody wanted him walking on this planet anymore anyways. This land became a nature reserve without Gyro ruling it with an iron fist.

Pokkle stared above him, extremely dark navy skies began changing into pastel hues of orange and yellow, a sign the sun's rising back into place, beginning a new day and experience. He squinted his eyes and looked beyond the lush green leaves below, calmly searching for any obvious borders that could lead him beyond this area. Keeping this lifestyle couldn't be healthy before he could anyone to socialize, the nearest town could have some kind, good folks he could chat with constantly.

Perhaps, he could become a wandering hermit that frequently ate small critters except for humans. Sentient creatures were considered taboo to eat himself and eating them could only end up in his thoughts telling his stomach to vomit their corpses out his mouth. His morals held him back and actually helped him gain a nonexistent reputation, better than having a grim one; having people after his guts would be a terrible life to lead.

"Ah!" Yes! On the ground was a securely guarded border where two receptionists waited in their shifts for other people to come by and give an identification card, which is an object Pokkle never even had in the first place. Turns out the only option received is to sneak pass before being noticed and captured. He lifted his body even more above the sky, loud wings buzzing until his shadow became smaller than his actual size. Nobody knows his existence now and he'll show his skills proudly to the world. His brown striped fur swept from the high winds, which never stopped his determination.

He flew past the Neo-Green Life borders and smiled softly behind him, skin freezing due to low temperatures and altitude. This doesn't matter though, he's on a journey to leave an un-erasable mark across this surface and become well-known enough that his name's seen by strangers, nonetheless, even himself. Nourishing his body could be easy inside a city, would it? There's limited food sources around, which is beyond his satisfaction, even though he could stroll inside a store and buy a snack; he doesn't carry any cash. Ugh! Searching for money's difficult when he's both jobless and homeless. Pokkle smacked his face with his palm, why didn't he think this through!

Harsh, freezing winds became stronger, soon enough, Pokkle landed inside this neat port city. The architecture seemed deeply familiar, triggering a memory in his mind. When his human self decided taking this "Hunter Exam", he walked across a path and found a house somewhere near this peaceful town. Since this was a selective exam, retaking it wouldn't be extremely difficult compared to what his past conscious did! A sharp grin curled across his face, showing magnificent amounts of confidence. Although, he looked around and paused his walking, he had to stop these people from staring at him.

A chimera ant like him's considered dangerous inside these parts yet however, he's only harmful when provoked. Nonetheless, his stingers are his teeth and there's no reason to bare them. He groaned silently, ambling aimlessly around. Suddenly, his entire body shivered at a poke on the back and the young man turned behind him. Nobody's there, maybe it's his imagination acting up or even worse, paranoia.

"Heeee ha ha ha! Hey.", a sharp voice chirped in front of him and he turned around once again, meeting eye to eye with a mischievous stranger. His tan skin's surface was riddled with pale scars, white hair naturally slicked back while his flat bangs covered his forehead. The human appeared to be wearing a teal tank-top along with his bandaged feet and hands ended in nasty, long claws. He stared in bewilderment, grinning, "I'm guessing you're not from around here, are you? It's pretty damn obvious!"

Pokkle snorted, rolling his eyes, "Yeah? What of it? I'm just looking around for a place to stay."

The stranger loudly cackled, coating Pokkle's face in his fishy breath, "For a place to stay? It doesn't seem like it! I mean, I never knew somebody who would walk around this town nude and talk like they're here for nothing but there's something behind that pretty boy face! Is there?"

This person's nonsensical talking gave the chimera ant a huge headache already.

"Then, I'm guessing you're here for the Hunter Exam, right?"

Utter silence; Pokkle's mouth couldn't give anything out, gaping wide while the scarred man stood and gestured, "I'm right? Am I?"

"Wait, wait, _wait_. How did you figure I was going out and taking this exam!", Pokkle shouted, holding out his arms, "I don't even know what it's about!"

The malevolent, cat-like man leaned against the magical beast's side, humming a certain tune, "It attracts all sorts of weird people like you, needless to say; I'm one of them!" He stretched a hand out, "Let me introduce myself, bee boy! I'm Sir Prize, needless to say, it's not my real name but it's a secret."

Pokkle shifted his attention from his friendly yet paralyzing appearance to his hand, shaking gently and beaming back, "I'm Pokkle, nice to meet you." Jeez, after holding it, Sir Prize's wrist felt unattached and at the same time, rough.


End file.
